The Borderline of Insanity
by Cyber
Summary: Four months after Erico's EOAD, a new group of Hunters train for war. Though the threat of Sigma is absent, danger still looms in the form of a group of uninfected Mavericks called the Renegades.
1. Prologue

**_Mega Man X: The Borderline of Insanity_****__**

  
  


**Prologue**

  
  


_Everyone has had to face some sort of dilemma in their life. They come big, they come small, and they all have one important thing in common, one vital characteristic that makes them what they are: they are all a pain in the butt. The difficultly in solving those dilemmas, however, comes when you no longer know if you are right, if you can make it, indeed, if you are still sane. Luckily, not many have to face this problem. But what happens to those who do?_

_In Maverick Hunter Headquarters, there were some that knew that they were right, that they could make it, and of course that they were still sane. Some were not certain. In the case of one small group of trainees, they were in the first group. How long they could stay there was something none of them knew._

_But for the time being, that was meaningless. The Hunters were all that mattered. For while a serious maverick threat in the form of new generals did not exist, there had been a marked increase in recent maverick attacks. Even so, no one really noticed, really cared. They were happy. They could solve their problems, take care of the minor interferences with the mavericks. Everything was peaceful, more so than it had been for a long time. Though the Maverick Hunters didn't know it, that was about to change._

_The Maverick Hunters didn't know that the Mavericks were growing stronger with each passing day. They didn't know how they had reorganized, began anew their process that catered to the needs of the virus within them. More than that, they didn't know of some new developments within the Mavericks, making them a worse threat than ever before . . ._

_The Maverick Hunters slept. But they were about to get a rude awakening._


	2. Business as Usual (Which is Always Unusu...

**Chapter One: Business as Usual (Which is Always Unusual)**__

  
  


__Zero was bored. This was nothing new to him, though. Unless he was fighting, Zero was almost always bored.

It wasn't that there was no fighting going on anymore; quite the contrary, actually. Lately, the mavericks had been getting more and more active. The problem was that there were enough Hunters these days to take care of them without his help. And that was enough to make him restless on any day.

So Zero prowled the base, trying to think of something to do aside from brood about the past or walk around doing nothing, which was what he was doing. Secretly, he almost wished that there would be another Maverick Uprising. Then he quashed that thought. You had to be careful what you wished for.

Then, an alarm went off. Another maverick attack had been detected. It was time to get busy.

It was Bastion's unit, the 21st, that came to the scene. They were in a medium-sized park somewhere in Madrid, the capital city of Spain. The park should have been a beautiful, quiet place for people to relax. At the moment, it wasn't. Mavericks were all around, tearing up park benches, blowing chunks out of buildings, and generally making a mess and causing pain, terror, and confusion.

"All right, people, let's get to work," Bastion said. The unit pulled out and lit up sabers or started powering up busters, ready to go. Then, they dove into the fray.

Just moments after he had spoken these words, one maverick heaved a park bench in his direction. Quickly Bastion sliced it in half with his beam saber before it could get any farther. The two pieces clattered to the ground in front of him. Leaping over them, Bastion pursued his attacker. The maverick took off running, obviously hoping to get to some cover and attack from there. But he was too slow. Bastion easily overtook him and cut him down.

"Commander, watch out!" Bastion didn't even take the time to identify the voice as he sprang to one side to avoid some fire from another maverick - literally. One of his new opponent's hands had been replaced with a black-market C-76 flamethrower - close-range ordnance meant to cripple reploids or other machines by overloading their cooling systems. The commander of the 21st unit had no wish to risk being knocked out of the fight by overheating, of all things, so he dropped back and let his second-in-command, Wycost, bring his buster to bear. Three quick shots threw the foe off-balance, and a charged blast finished the job.

"Plasma can be such a wonderful thing," Bastion muttered grimly to himself as he spun to deal with a pair of maverick head-bots. They, like the first two, turned out to be no match for him - a couple of quick slices finished the job in near-record time. That part was slightly annoying. Despite the hazards inherent in Maverick hunting, he was almost making a game out of it by tracking how quickly he could dispose of his enemies. Then again, Bastion wasn't the only guilty party in that respect - most Hunters at least subconsciously kept track of how fast they could finish a foe. Too, the quicker you got the job done, the less risk you ran of being killed or infected.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Bastion was on the defensive again - this time against a four-armed maverick with two busters and two sabers. Someone had gotten creative with this one. Raising his own saber, the fall-colored warrior parried several slashes, then jabbed, forcing the maverick to block one saber with two. The maverick pulled back slightly. This gave Bastion the opening he needed to win through with his blade, swinging it back around to score a near-fatal wound in his enemy's chest. As a last, desperate move, the multi-limbed maverick fired his busters at point-blank range. The twin burst didn't penetrate Bastion's armor plating, but it knocked him sprawling.

Screaming, the doomed maverick leapt forward, looking to take the Hunter down with him. At the last moment, Bastion rolled aside, and the attack's fury spent itself in the dirt. A single stab put the Maverick out of his misery. The commander checked for more danger, but the fight was over. The attack had been an _almost_ routine job; Bastion had to remind himself that no life-and-death situation was ever routine. As the unit regrouped and warped back to MHHQ, Bastion could only think of one thing: the maverick attacks were definitely getting worse. More than that, they were starting to seem _organized_. He wished that he knew if that was true...or just a fabrication of his mind.

If Bastion had been present at a gathering, far away from the site of the attack, his wish would have come true. A large group of unusual reploids were lounging in a room in a variety of positions, listening to another as he lectured them. Bastion, X, and a number of the other maverick hunters would have instantly recognized the speaker: Sigma!

Of course, it was not actually Sigma; Sigma had not been seen since the end of the last uprising. This was a hologram, pre-recorded to pass a message on to a group of Maverick generals that he had left behind to fight in his absence.

"...you are the greatest of all mavericks, answering to no one, following only the instructions I have left for you. Mavericks are this world's only hope to a peaceful existence for all reploids. You shall kill the humans, the reploids, and conquer the world. You will destroy everything that gets in your way. Do not fail me." With that, the holographic projector turned off, leaving the generals alone.

"Hmph. Why should we listen to him?" one of the mavericks snarled. The speaker was tall, modeled after a legendary bird called a phoenix, and, most surprising, female. Her name was Polarized Phoenix. Another maverick looked up. Razor Griffon was as sharp as his name intellectually as well as physically.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"Look at him," she growled, "he's been trying to conquer all for years, made _at least_ five separate attempts. And has he succeeded, even once? NO. HE HAS NEVER ACHIEVED WHAT HE WANTS." The holographic projector crumpled as Phoenix used her power over magnetic fields to vent her anger. "He's not even here right now: he got roasted at the end of the last uprising, by all accounts. I say that it's time for some new minds to take over. Who's with me?"

Her statement gained the attention of every single one of the room's occupants. Some looked interested; others worried. Most didn't know how to react. But then, Razor Griffon stood up and walked over to her.

"I am with you," he stated. Then, two more of the mavericks joined her. Magnitude Minotaur and Siren Sphinx were also modeled after mythical beings, and perhaps that gave them cause to align themselves with her. Phoenix shifted her gaze to the last of the "mythical mavericks", another avian-type called Thunderbolt Roc. If he joined her cause, then she had all the help she needed. The five of them were easily much stronger than any of the other generals, and together they could defeat the twenty-odd others in the room with few problems, if any.

Thunderbolt met her gaze...and then crossed the room to stand beside her. If Phoenix could have smiled, she would have then. As it was, a glitter of amusement and triumph came into her eyes-the only way she could show emotion, bar her voice. And at that moment, her tone of voice induced dread in those who didn't support her.

"You can join us...or you can die." 

Finally, one of the others spoke up. "You're crazy. Why should we follow you? Sigma was a much better leader. We can wait for his return."

"SIGMA IS GONE," Phoenix roared in his face. "HE IS NOT A FACTOR, BECAUSE HE WON'T COME BACK!" At least, she added mentally, not for a good long time...on the out chance that he did somehow survive.

But the other Maverick generals were in accord with the speaker, and formed a solid, opposing mass in front of the small group. Phoenix laughed.

"Then you've chosen. If you are not with us, you are against us, and I must warn you: there is one instruction of Sigma's that I will follow. He told us to destroy everything that gets in our way. YOU are in our way." The opposing group snarled and jeered, as they readied a mass attack. Thunderbolt shrugged.

"It's twenty-five of them against the five of us. Five-to-one odds." Razor nodded.

"Hardly fair, is it? They're way outnumbered."

The initial charge met with total disaster; Magnitude's devastating earthquake-like attack leveled everyone but a half-dozen airborne generals with its ground-rippling force. Razor, calm and collected but not to be outdone, unleashed a spray of monofilament blades that carved through armor plating like cream cheese and finished several prone foes.

The survivors fell back in temporary disarray. Magnitude, never one for longer-range combat if he could avoid it, followed up, wielding a massive beam weapon designed to mimic a battle-axe. Its weight made it difficult for most to use effectively, but minotaurs have always been said to have legendary strength.

"You boys aren't going to hog ALL the fun, now are you?" Siren quipped facetiously as she whirled into action, taking down the nearest enemy with a lightning-fast martial arts kick. As lithe and agile as her horned companion was bulky and powerful, she was more than a match for even most other reploids in speed and close-combat skill, but also had a powerful long-range weapons system. She preferred the former, as she was more than capable of disarming any saber-wielding opponent at leisure.

Thunderbolt Roc was much more unorthodox in his approach to the battle, just like his design. Instead of being humanoid, the giant avian was nearly the spitting image of his imaginary counterpart, save for the metallic sheen on his feathers. Now he spread his wings open wide, daring anyone with the courage to try and attack. The first one that did became an example to the rest as to why this beast was named "Thunderbolt", as he was destroyed by a tremendous burst of electrical energy.

But it was Polarized Phoenix herself that was the most devastating. Any reploid, no matter how well-designed, is virtually helpless when caught within a strong magnetic field. Phoenix was capable of creating and altering such fields at will, and her control was finely-tuned enough to simply tweak the internal mechanisms of each of her victims in turn, just far enough so that their reactors were no longer properly shielded.... The results were spectacular: enemy Maverick generals simply exploded one after another in an apparent domino effect.

The entire slaughter - it was far too one-sided to be called a battle - took only a matter of moments, and then all was silent for a minute, as the victors surveyed their handiwork.

Siren spoke first. "Well. So much for them, I guess. Now what do we do?"

"We plan," Phoenix replied. "And unlike Sigma, I welcome any suggestions, unorthodox or otherwise. We need to do things that have never been done before."

Razor chuckled. "And then, when things are set in motion..." Phoenix finished the thought for him.

"The Hunters, and the world, will never know what hit them."

No, the Hunters definitely didn't know what was going to hit them. At that same moment, at MHHQ, the commanders were doing the busy work that was a necessary evil of running such a large organization, in this case discussing the newest batch of incoming trainees, who would begin to arrive during the next week. So far, it seemed to be a pretty generic group. As Zero put it, there were those who would wash out during training, those who wouldn't make it through their first mission, and those who would hopefully become decent Hunters. Hopefully.

Bastion sighed. "Same old sort?"

Zero rolled his eyes. "You're a one to talk. It's only been a few months for you, and this the first new batch of trainees you've had outside of your own group. But you're right. They're pretty normal, for Hunter hopefuls."

Still optimistic, X spoke up. "Well, we still don't have all the applicants. Maybe someone more interesting will come up. In any case, it doesn't matter. The maverick threat is really toast, you know. We're ready for anything the natural mavericks can throw at us."

X did not-could not- grasp how wrong he was. His last statement was tempting fate. And fate has a nasty way of taking up challenges. But-alas for the Hunters!-they couldn't see the future. They had no way of realizing that 'business as usual' would shortly become more than _unusual_.

It would become downright anomalous.


	3. Blitzkriegs and Beginnings

Chapter 2: Blitzkriegs and Beginnings

  
  


The day had started like any other day, and Louie followed his usual routine. Get up, have some chow, and go to work. It was a decent job, being part of the four-man team that made up the neighborhood watch for his small, Irish community, though it got awfully boring sometimes. The worst problems were petty thieves and lawbreakers, nothing that even one of them couldn't handle. For Louie and his friends were reploids, who had never dealt with a Maverick attack in their entire careers.

Until now.

The attack came around mid-morning. The Watch got to work immediately. Picking off the minor Mavericks was a challenge, and it took all of their concentration. And then, the earth shook.

"What was that?" Louie yelped. "We've never had earthquakes before. We can't have earthquakes now. There aren't any fault lines here, are there?"

The others agreed. The closest cracks in the Earth's crust were miles and miles away. So Louie ventured towards the middle of the little burg, where the center of the activity seemed to be. What he saw there was unbelievable - to him.

A Maverick stood in the middle of the road. But what a Maverick! Part of him looked like a humanoid, and the rest...well, kind of like a bull. In fact, Louie realized, the reploid looked like a minotaur of ancient myth. Then Louie found out where the shakes were coming from. Even as he watched, the minotaur Maverick reared back and slammed his fist into the ground. A long crack, with a myriad of miniature cracks along it, sprouted from the place he hit. Louie had to leap out of the way, or he would have dropped down to God knows where. Awestruck, he gaped as the crack ran under a building, which, having never been designed to stand up to earthquakes, immediately collapsed.

Then, the Maverick saw Louie.

Sucking up his courage, Louie confronted the source of this disturbance. Powering up his buster, he prayed that this time, he'd hit the target. He didn't. His aim was, as usual, abysmal. He groaned.

The Maverick grinned. He then ground-pounded again, shaking Louie down from his perch. Scrambling back to his feet, Louie fired again. Being much closer, this time he hit the Maverick. Unfortunately, it didn't even faze him, and he slammed the ground once more.

Hearing an ominous creak behind him, Louie spun around just in time to see the wall that he had fallen off of come crashing down on top of him. Then, the world went dark.

Some ten minutes after the Maverick activity was detected in Mountbellew, Ireland, Commander X and his 17th Unit warped into the scene. What they saw, however, was not the chaotic frenzy of the attack. What they saw was a devastated community. The Mavericks were gone.

"Spread out and search for survivors," X ordered. The members of the unit obeyed with all speed, but as X received more reports back from them, he began to realize the full extent of the devastation. Not only were all of the buildings destroyed, but the death toll was nearly two hundred already in a place where only approximately three hundred people lived.

Desperately, he joined the search, praying that not all had perished. The expressions on the Hunters' faces grew grimmer as they found only more mangled, crushed, and sometimes plasma-burned bodies. Then X saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Whipping around, he discerned that the movement belonged to a hand sticking out from under a crumbled section of wall. Amazed that anyone could survive having that come down on them, he called for assistance to lift it away. "Doan! Come help me with this!"

Doan came as requested, and together they heaved the chunk of wall away to reveal the body beneath it. A reploid, Doan noted, with green -bright green- armor. "Is he alive?" he asked softly. His answer came as the reploid stirred. "I guess so."

"What...where...who are you?" the reploid asked, disoriented.

"We're Maverick Hunters," X replied, "responding to the Maverick threat. It appears that we're too late, though. Who are you?"

"Louie," the reploid identified quietly. He looked around, and his eyes widened in shock. "Is this...all that's left?" he queried. X nodded sadly. 

"You're the only survivor."

The words echoed in Louie's ears. The only survivor...the only survivor... It was too much, and between that and the battering his body had taken, it was more than enough to send him mercifully back into oblivious unconsciousness.

  
  


When he woke up again, he was in some sort of medical bay. Maverick Hunter Headquarters Med Bay, the reploid doctor, who introduced himself as Hazil, informed him. Then X entered the room, asking Louie if he felt up to answering some questions. Louie was, and X started right away. "What happened, anyway? By the time we got there, there wasn't a Maverick to be seen." Upon hearing Louie's description of what he saw, X frowned. If what Louie said was correct, then the Mavericks had destroyed the entire community in minutes and left before the Hunters could arrive. If this was a new tactic of theirs, it could mean real trouble. There was a limit to how fast a Unit could respond, and it wasn't going to be fast enough. He thanked Louie, who pulled off his helmet in frustration, revealing hair as green as his armor and eyes.

"I just wish I could tell you more, help more. There's nothing left for me to do, except... Commander, could I join you Hunters?" he asked.

X had to suppress a grin. "You're welcome to, and your timing is excellent. There's a new group of trainees forming now." He paused. "Is that all, Louie? I have to get going."

Louie grinned the grin X had been suppressing. "Yes, sir. And thank you."

Not two days later, it happened again.

Acting on a distress call from a small, seaside town in England, Bastion's Unit warped in to see another scene of devastation. Bodies were floating in the bay, so many bodies that they covered the water. They bumped together as they bobbed, sickeningly like buoys. It was clear that none of them were alive.

Down on the shore stood one person -a reploid- staring out to sea, fists clenched at his sides. A tear glistened on his cheek. He did not turn when Bastion called out, nor did he speak at first when Bastion walked up beside him. When he did, his voice was laden with bitterness.

"A little late, aren't you?" his clipped, upper-class English accent greeted them. Wycost chose to take offence.

"Hey, bub, it takes time to warp. You should know that." When the stranger reploid started to reply, Bastion quickly cut the pair off so he could find out what happened.

The story was unsurprisingly straightforward. Ray, as the reploid introduced himself, and his friends had been taking a break when they had heard singing. They had investigated, of course, and had seen a strange reploid standing out on the sand bar. Then, all they could think about was the singing, and had wound up in a kind of trance. 

"We walked down the street, navigated the dunes...I would have wound up with them, drowned, if it hadn't been for pure luck, if you could call it that. And I would have drowned, not because I have to breathe like the humans do, but because none of us," and he gave a wry grin, "are more than water-resistant. Anyhow, back in the grass, my foot slipped and I fell. Cracked my head a good one, and I guess that pulled me out of the trance I was in. I realized what had happened, and I plugged my ears. And I watched" -speaking bitterly- "I WATCHED as every single person, man, woman, child and reploid walked into the water, trying to get to that...that WITCH, and she just stood there and sang, until every last one of them drowned. And then she laughed, and warped out before any of you came."

Bastion nodded and opened his mouth, but Wycost beat him to the question. "All right, so we missed out on that. But what did that guy look like?"

"Guy?" Ray laughed cynically. "Hunter, did you even listen to my story? That was a female maverick, no ifs, ands, or buts. She was a humanoid feline, about your height, gray, with gold wings and a human face. An exceptionally pretty human face, that matched her voice. A sphinx, Hunter, as if from the myths of old."

Bastion nodded. "Thank you for your help." Ray shook his head and grinned.

"You haven't seen the last of me yet. I'm joining the Hunters." He shrugged. "There's nothing left for me here anymore." Wycost looked about ready to make a sarcastic remark, but Bastion cut him off.

"Welcome aboard, Ray."

In a hidden location somewhere in the world, cruel laughter rang out. With two extremely successful blitzkrieg attacks under their proverbial belts, the small band of Mavericks were feeling pretty good. As that round of mirth wore off, Phoenix spoke.

"That was a most excellent idea of yours, Razor. When all that meets one of those "Hunter Units" is devastation, they're at a loss for what to do. Moral and belief in the Hunters must be at an all-time low."

Magnitude Minotaur agreed. "And any time you get more ideas like that, bring 'em on. This campaign is going way better than any of Sigma's." Siren Sphinx cleared her throat.

"Well, I may not be the Griffen, here, but how about one of my ideas instead?"

Thunderbolt Roc gave his head a short, sharp nod. "All input is welcome, of course."

Siren almost purred with pleasure. "Well, it's like this......"

Back at MHHQ, the Hunter Commanders, X and Zero, were once again sitting down to view the now complete list of Hunter hopefuls. As X opened the alphabetically organized file, Zero grumbled, praying that there would be a few useful people in this lot. He also secretly hoped that there would be some anomalies, different sorts to make this first check interesting.

There were. The very first name on the list read, "Armored Armadillo." On closer check, the two discovered that someone had built a reploid along the same lines as the original, giving it a different personality and some upgrades at the same time. Then, for no apparent reason, the creator named him after his older counterpart.

X shrugged. "Maybe the guy didn't have much imagination."

Zero shook his head. "I'd still hate to be him. Think of trying to go through life knowing your predecessor was a rotten Maverick." They continued.

Noting a 'Bill' and a 'Bob' in passing, they continued. The next notable difference came in a trainee who called himself "Cyber." The deviation from normal came in his armament, where the file stated that he regularly fought with a buster and 'beam weapon', type unverified, along with 'other auxiliary weapons'. Another one to keep an eye on.

It was Zero who picked out the oddity in Gambit, another trainee whose file noted a partiality to being alone and a rather sinister picture, which featured a humanoid reploid with very pale skin, very black armor, and a closed expression on his face.

X marked the presence of Louie and Ray on the list, remembering their unusual circumstances for joining, and also noticing that Louie had failed to provide his weapon of choice, and Ray had only mentioned a preference for explosives. Yet another interesting fact to watch for, though X hoped it didn't have a subversive explanation.

Even those were not the last, though. Shortly after Ray's file was that of a reploid called Riptide Raptor. The screen showed a reploid who was obviously modeled after a carnivorous dinosaur of millions of years ago. She used none of the traditional weapons, and they didn't need to wonder why. The gleaming claws and sharp teeth that showed in the picture were all the explanation they needed. 

And so it was that all of the trainees were duly checked and noted by the commanders of the Maverick Hunters, a dull task spiced only by some unusual and unconventional aspirants, and the hope of true talent in the ranks. A baptism of lightning for some...

...and a new beginning.


	4. Welcome to Training Mode

Chapter Three: Welcome to Training Mode

  
  


Louie winced slightly as he walked through the large double doors into the auditorium. He knew that today would be a day of testing, a day to find out how good he and the other recruits were...or how well they could be. Knowing himself and his wonderful performances with a Buster, he'd probably fail testing. And then what would he do?

WHACK!! The sound brought him out of his reverie. Turning around, he saw that the noise had been another recruit hitting his head on the top of the doorframe. Ducking, the abnormally tall reploid ducked and stepped through the doorway to the sound of whispering. Louie could tell what it was about; this guy bore a striking resemblance to one of the original Maverick generals. Still, it obviously wasn't him...and he looked so alone. As the seats filled up, Louie noted that all of the seats near the large reploid remained empty. On a split-second decision, he walked over to the reploid armadillo.

"Hi. Do you mind if I sit here?" The other shook his head. "Good." With that, Louie settled down next to him, and not a moment too soon, as a reploid walked out on stage.

"I am Sergeant Yadob," he announced aggressively. "I'll be taking care of your basic training, starting today." His eyes searched the crowd, narrowing as he picked out those who didn't seem to be listening. "If you think it'll be a picnic, think again. You need to work. You need discipline."

"He needs," muttered a soft voice, "to shut up and let us get started." Looking around, Louie located the speaker, a humanoid reploid with silver armor trimmed with blue and green. He was slumped in his chair, and one boot was resting on the chair in front of him. He did not even look remotely interested in what the Sergeant was saying, and the Sergeant noticed right away.

"You!" Yadob pounced. "Repeat what I just said!"

"From where?" the delinquent inquired innocently.

The Sergeant was taken aback by the cheek. It appeared that this one had been listening. "Never mind," he barked. "Now get that foot of yours on the floor!"

The offender nodded, and returned his booted foot to the floor as ordered. Then, with some consideration, he lifted the other and put it on the chair in front of him instead. The sergeant reacted immediately. "Didn't I just tell you to put your foot on the floor, trainee?"

"You only said to put that foot," the other gestured to the appropriate boot, "on the floor. You didn't say anything about this one." A ripple of laughter greeted these words, and Yadob grew angry.

"SILENCE!" he roared. Then, apparently deciding that it would be best to get this over with, he said, "It is time for your training to begin. Go to the grounds and be ready when I get there. Dismissed!"

The trainees filed obediently out the door. Louie paused, looking at the reploid sitting beside him. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Armored Armadillo. My creator liked the idea, so he had to go and make me," came the reply, "and look where it's got me."

Louie nodded. "It can't be easy, what with your predecessor being what he was...mind if I call you Army?" a shake of the head came from the other. "I'm Louie. Pleased to meet you."

"Well, that's just grand, isn't it?" came a voice from behind them. "Mind not blocking the way for these poor souls?" The speaker was the trainee that had talked back to Sergeant Yadob. The pair moved aside so others could get past them. The rebellious trainee remained. "The name's Cyber. Charming, eh?" he asked with a smile.

Louie looked him up and down. Cyber wore silver armor with a light blue and green trim, so bright that he suspected that it could blind someone with the proper angle and light. His helmet matched the trim of the armor, and his appearance was completed by strange, star-silver eyes that gleamed with suppressed laughter.

The three proceeded to the training room, where Louie noted many targets set up on the walls, perhaps twenty meters away. It looked like they were going to have target practice first. He was doomed.

Yadob watched them in rounds, criticizing where he could and giving out few bits of praise. One trainee, Pete, was excellent with his Buster, using exactly the amount of charge needed, hardly even taking time to aim, and then hitting the bull's-eye without fail. Cyber had no problem, either. When Army's turn came, he blew the target off of its mount. When the Sergeant snarled at him, he meekly explained that his concussion blaster was the only projectile weapon he had. Then, Louie hit the front of the line. Whispering a prayer, he let fly.

It missed horribly. After enduring Yadob's rant, Louie slunk to the back of the group and watched the others. What will I do if I can't make the cut? he wondered. There's nothing else left for me. I guess I'll just be a failure. It's all I've ever been, and I guess it's all I ever will be. A failure. Then, one of the trainees spoke up behind him.

"Hey, it's all right. He's like that to everyone." Louie recognized the speaker as Ray, another reploid whose home had been ruined by the Mavericks. "You'll be Louie, right? I think you know I'm Ray." Louie nodded. Lowering his voice, Ray continued. "Well, I know how you're feeling, kind of helpless and all. But there's always something that someone's good at. Cheer up - you're bound to find yours." Flashing a grin, Ray added, "You and that armadillo fella, how about you sitting with Pete and me at break time?" Louie smiled back and agreed.

Finally, that section of the preliminaries was completed. Then, Commander Zero entered the training room and announced that they'd be trying beam sabers next. They were quickly doled out and the trainees paired for mock dueling. Louie looked at his partner with an uneasy expression. "Ready?" the other whispered with an encouraging smile.

"Are you kidding?" Louie replied. "I've never even held one of these things before. How am I supposed to use it?" Cyber, who was paired not so far away with another trainee named Gambit, gave him a quick bit of advice.

"Just a few tips. First, until you're used to the feel, don't go for close blocks. It's too easy for your opponent to push the saber back into you. If you see an opening, take it. Finally, the best advice I can give you is to just do what feels right." He winked. "Good luck!" With that, he and Gambit engaged in a furious duel. Louie swallowed and turned back. 

"I guess I'm ready. Let's start." And so they did. Suddenly, Louie had an entirely new feeling come over him, one of knowing exactly what to do. Each parry and attack flowed from one to another, and the next thing he knew, the other trainee's practice saber was flying through the air. Zero, who had paused to watch, nodded in satisfaction. It appeared that he was a natural. Excellent.

At lunch break, Louie kept his agreement and sat with Ray, Pete, and Army. To their surprise, they were joined by Cyber. The five, alarmingly different as they were, soon formed a friendship. Though their conversation was mainly lighthearted, each was aware of how more serious issues were being avoided, to be saved for another time. As it was mutual, however, none of them really minded. Then, it was back to training, a scenario in the holographic simulator. There were many mavericks, some rusting structures, a building with a bomb in it, and a flying Maverick General overhead - the basic Airborne Albatross mission. 

After a few minutes of trainees aimlessly trying to take out this or that Maverick, and getting blown away in the process, it became apparent to some that a strategy was required. As more of the trainees were lost due to their inexperience with fighting moving, thinking targets, Cyber rallied his friends and a few others who were around him, pulling them into an easily defended area.

"Riptide, cover us, and keep listening," he ordered. "Okay, guys, there are three things that have to be done. There's a bomb which has to be removed or disabled before it goes off. Ray, that's your job. Army, you go along with him and protect him. For the rest of you, there are Mavericks everywhere, and the more you pick off, the faster this gets over. Gambit, you're a solitary fighter, so I want you to circulate and take them down in the small clumps. Riptide, same thing, but go for outer groups - you're faster. Pete, Louie, I want you two to work together. Louie, take out any Maverick close in, and don't worry about the ones out of saber range; those are Pete's problem. Any questions?"

"What about you?" Louie asked. Cyber smiled grimly.

"I'm going to take a shot at the General flying around up there. If I get on his back, it shouldn't be too hard. All right, no more questions: let's get to it!"

Riptide Raptor sprang away from the opening, decapitating a maverick and clearing the way for the others. Splitting up as assigned, the others also went at it with enthusiasm. Charging into the fray, Louie and Pete quickly began working in tandem, a pair that with practice, Cyber thought, could soon become a seamless team. Army and Ray soon vanished inside the distant building, and Gambit and Riptide were all the roving killers that could be hoped for. All too soon, however, the planned team was the only group of trainees left. Lack of experience and forethought had eliminated the others.

X watched and listened to it all from a simulated distance, since the training program was just that, a simulated program, designed to test trainees and Hunters in real-life situations. He thoroughly approved of the planning and teamwork being utilized by this small group, and deemed them to have the makings of a good force to put together.

  
  


Meanwhile, inside the building, Ray and Army were in the midst of a fray that they wouldn't soon forget, and if it had been real and Ray had been alone, it would have been his last. Though proficient enough with Buster and Saber, his armor guarded hidden explosives and a series of bad hits would start a chain reaction of explosions that could easily level any structure. Army, however, lived up to the nickname given to him and walked through the opposition, hardly even pausing to destroy whatever got in his way. Ray simply had to follow and snipe at stray Mavericks.

And so it took them just minutes to plough through the Maverick forces to get to the bomb. Releasing one last concussive blast, Army reluctantly turned to simply crushing the simulated enemies with his bare hands. It was too dangerous to continue firing now; a poorly aimed shot would almost certainly detonate the bomb.

That was something that Army did not wish to do, and so he turned to the original method of destroying the bad guys: ripping them apart. Some he tore limb from limb, some simply lost their heads, and he crushed those whose misfortune it was to fall under his feet. For all of their numbers, the Mavericks couldn't fight back effectively; they weren't physically strong enough, and their plasma blasts could not punch through the reploid armadillo's formidable armor. They were dropping like flies, until suddenly there were none left. The room was empty, save for Army and Ray.

It was then that they looked at the bomb. A time bomb, ticking steadily away. There were just three minutes left, and decreasing by the second. Army frowned.

"It looks like we're too late." Ray shook his head.

"Not yet. I've disarmed the bloody things with less time than this. So relax." He moved to the bomb and carefully removed the cover. After studying it for a precious few seconds, he nodded. "Ah. I see." Army looked hopeful.

"You mean, you know what to do?" The corners of Ray's mouth turned up, and he shook his head slightly.

"I've never even seen this type before. Doesn't mean I can't stop it, though. Give me a bit." Army resumed looking worried. The worry grew as three minutes dwindled down to one, and Ray still hadn't moved.

"Aren't you going to do something?" he asked hesitantly, not wanting to distract him. Ray didn't answer, concentrating only on the mysterious mechanisms that would soon trigger an explosion. Then, a new light snapped into his eyes, and his hands set to their delicate work. As light and quick as a pair of hummingbirds, they danced about the inner workings of the simulated bomb, disconnecting some wires, tweaking others. Thirty seconds later, with just fifteen seconds left on the clock, the timer went dead. The bomb was disabled.

Ray sat back with a grin. "I told you I could do it, didn't I?" Then he triggered the in-simulation comm. "Hey, Cyber. This is Ray. Mission accomplished."

  
  


Cyber allowed himself a small sigh of relief. Test or not, this was a good time to see if he had judged his fellow recruits correctly. So far, he had. Gambit and Riptide Raptor were doing well as solo fighters, though they couldn't be depended on to help the others. Pete and Louie made a nice tandem, as well.

Enough reflections, he told himself. It was time to act. Glancing up, he saw Airborne Albatross wheeling in the sky overhead, doing his best to wreak havoc below. Gathering himself together and making a quick calculation, he triggered one of his specialty weapons.

Suddenly a warp beam shot through Airborne Albatross, coming out on top of the mechanical avian and solidifying into Cyber. Airborne did not panic even then. Instead, he did a barrel roll and then a dive, intent on shaking this audacious hunter from his back. Cyber held on. If he fell, he'd have to figure out the warp coordinates of a safe patch of ground very, very quickly. The Distortion Charge may have been more accurate than a normal warp, and could be used on the move, but it was short range only and a mistake in figuring the coordinates could easily prove fatal.

Releasing the avian's back with one hand, he reached for his beam weapon. Then, waiting for the moment when Airborne Albatross straightened out from one of his maneuvers, he flicked it on to his favored setting with practiced fingers. A beam mace sprouted from the handle, a veritable ball and chain of plasma. Quickly standing up on the General's back, he gave it two swings for momentum, then brought it crashing down on the Maverick's metallic spine.

The effect was devastating. The ball of plasma cut the Maverick in two, removing the section between the two parts entirely. Judging the correct warp point quickly, Cyber repeated his earlier move - with a few minor adjustments - only reversed. Once on the ground, he whipped the beam mace around a few more times to disable another pair of stray Mavericks, and then stopped. There were none left. Pete, Louie, Gambit and Riptide had killed them all. The simulation dissolved around them, leaving only the training room surrounding them and Zero standing in the doorway.

"Congratulations," the commander said, "you passed the first test. Actually, you did quite well. I think you can be placed in a Unit very soon." Having said his piece, Zero abruptly turned and left.

"Well." Pete said. "Hooray for us, big commendation, and then cut out before we get to him, huh? You never know, we could be toxic or something." Gambit smiled sardonically.

"I get the impression that we weren't supposed to survive, let alone defeat all of the Mavericks inside the building and out, disarm the bomb after cutting through their little guardian battalion, and then destroy their General with less than a few minutes' effort." he shrugged. "Tough. I had no intention of getting killed just to please him, simulation or not. It's a bad habit to get into." The generally withdrawn and antisocial reploid lapsed back into his usual silence, and then, head down, walked away from the group. Riptide Raptor also left, though in a different direction. She had a lot to think about.

At first, she returned to her quarters, but could think of no reason to stay there, so she went wandering. No one stopped her, tried to walk with her, or even greeted her. She expected no less. She had always been less than friendly, hadn't let anyone get close to her since...

She stopped that train of thought before it went too far. No need to keep thinking of past mistakes. It was enough that she continued to kill Mavericks and get her revenge. And the best way to do that was alone, with no one else getting in her way or weighing her down. Cyber had recognized that, set her loose as he did with Gambit.

Passing into an empty room, she paused her ruminations to look around. No one was there, but someone had left the television on, volume up, blaring a commercial to the world. "...peace. J.K. Horn's URFAWP, United Reploids for A World Peace, works for the day when humans and reploids can live in harmony." A picture of Horn himself appeared on the screen, smiling and shaking hands with some guy - human - while other reploids and humans happily worked and played together in the background. The commercial continued. "You, too, can make a difference. Join URFAWP, and help make the world a better place for all. Humans and reploids united can end all hate and..." Riptide had heard enough. She switched the television off.

"As if," she grumbled. Reploids and humans had had trouble mixing almost from day one. And now some loony wanted them to all give up their differences and have everything to be sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows for everyone from that day forth. She shook her head. It was a nice dream, but it wasn't going to happen. Human or reploid, there would always be dissenters, people who wouldn't work with others, people who thought that their way was better. Like yourself, Riptide? she asked herself with a grin. Well, she could work with others, and knew there were other ways of doing things...she just preferred her own. Still, there were others...people who lived for death...

Like Gambit. He was a killer, no mistake, and not just a Maverick killer like herself. She could smell death on him, the fear and blood of innocents. She didn't know what his past was, but she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him using one hand at 50% energy. And if she ever found out what he had done to smell like that, she'd kill him in an eye blink.

"Well, Sergeant, what do you have to say about the new recruits? More specifically, the ones that survived their first holo battle?" X inquired mildly.

Yadob grunted. "Hmph. Well, where do I start? Their tactics were unorthodox and I'm surprised that any of them made it out alive, as it were. The one who provided the planning by all accounts, that Cyber character, has no discipline whatsoever. He's a troublemaker, and I can't see him fitting into any of the regular Units. He has displayed some skill with Buster and Saber, and with his own specialty weapons." This last came out as a sneer. "He destroyed the General quite readily with that 'beam weapon' he mentioned in his file, and I'll admit that I've never seen anyone warp with that precision. But he'll never make it as a Hunter, I'd say. Too individualistic."

"There have been individualistic Hunters before," Zero pointed out. Yadob nodded.

"Barring yourself and Commander X, sir, 'individuals' don't seem to do as well. Continuing on, the one called Gambit is another story. He displays strengths in all categories of fighting, and he's certainly adept in killing Mavericks, but..." he hesitated, "you'll forgive me for saying so, sir, but he takes more joy out of killing than anyone I've ever seen, including you, and he's so antisocial that I can't see him working with someone else. That's a problem."

"Perhaps it can be trained out of him," mused X. "What about Louie? Doan and I have been keeping an eye on him ever since he came, and he seems to be adjusting well, but I've never seen him fight."

"The green one, huh? Well, 'green' he is, in the Buster range. Can't hit the target worth beans. Even if he does learn better, he'll never be the next Wycost."

"And yet, he's a natural with a saber," Zero said. "First time he ever picked one up, he disarmed his partner in about ten seconds, and he's been practicing ever since. He might even fit into my Unit eventually."

Yadob looked skeptical. "As you say, sir. The next guy, Pete, the German, could become the next Wycost. He's easily the best with a Buster in his group, hits targets - moving and stationary - as easily as breathing. His friend Ray, the English one from that ruined town, has demonstrated an affinity for explosives, as you have seen. Not only can he disable them even if it's the first time he's seen the like, he can make new ones out of hardly anything. His other skills, however, are mediocre - he'd never last out a good fight on his own. And that's where that Army fellow came in in that sim. Not even TitaniTefloalloy armor can stand up to what he put it through, he destroys Mavericks and walls like a one-man demolition team, and keeps going like the Energizer bunny." He paused.

"And the other? Riptide Raptor?" X prompted.

"She's a strange one, sir. Killed just as happily as Gambit, and a bit faster and certainly more brutally, but she doesn't strike me as quite so sinister. I don't trust her, either, mind you. I saw her eating one of the Mavericks in the holo test. She knows how to fight, but she wants to do it alone, with no help, no orders. An individual. Then again, that's the problem with all of them. They're too different, and I don't know where they can be placed."

X thought for a while, then decided. "We'll try putting them with Bastion in the 21st, at least temporarily. His attitude may hold them for a while, but I think you're right. It won't be permanent. They're a set of loose cannons waiting to go off, and once they get out of 'training mode', all we can do is hope for the best." Zero agreed grimly.

"Isn't that what we always do, all we can do? Hope for the best."


	5. Queen's Gambit

Chapter Four: Queen's Gambit

  
  


"Well, well, well," a cruel, silky voice mused, "what do we have here? A worthless piece of pacifist scum, and if wasn't for blackmailing purposes, you'd be dead right now." A sinister note crept into the voice. "We don't like reploids who are against our cause, you know."

The prisoner cringed. He had little courage on his own - he needed the support of others. He had been maltreated for too long to stand up and fight in the face of such malevolence. His captor was about to speak again when another reploid -a maverick- he reminded himself, rushed into the room. "Polarized Phoenix! We have the latest report from our...new agent. He says that he's established himself and will soon be in position to act."

"Thank you, Razor. That's certainly nice to hear. Anything else...important?" Razor shook his head.

"He was very brief. Not interested in chatting with us, can you imagine?" They shared another sadistic laugh. Phoenix glanced at the prisoner.

"So fitting, really. The scum's name, I mean...the key to the plan, to figuring out how the one essential piece to the first move in our little game works. Cipher."

Meanwhile, in MHHQ, things were progressing nicely for all. As decided by the commanders, Ray, Pete, Cyber, Army, Gambit, Riptide Raptor, and Louie were placed temporarily in the 21st Unit. And there were already problems with their nonconformity. It was as the Sergeant had predicted: people who were that different just didn't fit in well with others.

Walking down the hall one day, Army frowned. His reason for joining was just, and he had friends...which had been a big surprise, since most people shied away from him...but he still didn't feel right. Bastion was a good commander, and Army could tell that he knew his stuff, but the other members were not making it easy for him. He knew that he was bigger and not as agile...all right, he was a bit clumsy sometimes. But surely that was no reason to get taunted all of the time, wasn't it?

It was. If it hadn't been for the others, someone could have been hurt the last time they had gone at him. He had really lost it, and Louie had been the only thing that stopped him. It had been a risk, getting in front of himself when he was that angry, but Louie had taken the chance - and managed to calm him down. The only other person who had ever been willing to take that chance was the Professor.

Now Army smiled. Professor Aaron Aardvark was his creator, and not only did he have a Ph.D. in Biology with a second in Robotics, he was a nice person, too. Though Army didn't like being modeled after a deceased Maverick General, Professor Aardvark made it seem okay.

"Hey, Army!" his introspection was interrupted by a call. Ray came running up. "You must be really deep in thought, and while it's a good thing, we've got training like, right now! See you there. Cheerio!" Then he rushed off. Army turned and started towards the training room.

  
  


"Right. Now that you're all here, I'm going to tell you what we're going to be doing today." Bastion announced. "It's a bit different than usual. Today's 'mission' for each and every one of you is to survive. Every man for himself. I know," and he had to raise his voice over the mutters, "usually I see how well you can work together. But every so often, you wind up going it alone. The purpose of this exercise is to see how well you can do that. Got it?" There were murmured agreements. "Then let's get to it. This lasts for twenty minutes, and if you don't have at least ten kills by the end of it, you've failed your mission. If you're taken out, well, at least you know where you stand."

Pete raised his hand. "Commander, do those kills have to be from the holo enemies, or can we attack teammates, too?" Bastion arched an eyebrow.

"As I said, it's every man for himself. Of course all kills count." The damage was set to none anyway, so no one would wind up with Hazil in the med bay. Hazil would be thrilled, Bastion thought sarcastically, if anyone from his Unit came in from a training exercise after being bashed by a teammate. He snorted. Yeah, right.

They entered the training room...and the simulation began.

A quiet part of some unidentified city, no civilians around. But there were plenty of mavericks lurking in the shadows, and suddenly, they began to pop out and attack. Shortly plasma was flying everywhere, and everyone spread out to return fire...and survive. Shaking his head, Cyber quickly branched off from the others and slipped up to a rooftop of a seven-story building. This exercise would be an ideal time for him to observe his teammates, and find out what they were really like.

Pete. The reploid had backed up and moved to higher ground, making it easy for him to shoot. He was a good shot, a sniper at heart. He obviously didn't like close in combat. That pointed toward one of two basic things. Either he knew he couldn't fight well up close, or he was afraid to.

Riptide Raptor. She was most certainly fighting "in close." Slicing anyone who approached her to pieces with claws and laser extensions, she deflected shots with careless abandon. A killer, he thought. He blinked at the sight of her ripping an arm off of one of the Unit members and eating it. A hunter, he corrected, and one who cares only about herself. Something had to have happened to her in her past...

His attention shifted, spinning to shoot a maverick that had tried to sneak up behind him. Then, he returned to watching. Wycost. Strange sort, he mused. Damned good fighter, deadly aim. Fights for revenge, though; Cyber could tell from the fervor that Wycost had for destroying them even though it was just in training. Army was some distance away, brawling like it was going to go out of style. Armor deflected stray plasma shots. But Army was just a brawler.

Louie. Out of bad luck, he had happened on Bastion, and now the two were locked in a saber duel. Both were excellent with the beam saber, but Bastion was easily better, owing to his superior amount of experience. He was confident about his ability, and knew that he could accomplish his missions. He also had the trust of his Unit members, and was a good commander. Louie, on the other hand, was not nearly so confident and hesitated to throw himself into an attack. 

Finally, after observing most of the remaining Hunters in the simulation, Cyber turned his attention to Gambit, who had secluded himself in an alleyway and was silently picking off anything that happened to come his way. Even as Cyber watched, Gambit's arm snaked out to take hold of a passing Hunter and pull him in. A quick slice with his saber and his target died soundlessly. He was difficult to see, black-armored and black-sabered in the shadows, and he obviously knew it. There was no doubt about it in Cyber's mind: Gambit killed for a living. An assassin.

Ten minutes later, the exercise was over, and they were free to go. Of Cyber's friends, only Ray and Louie had not survived; Louie had eventually lost to Bastion's superior skill with saber, though he had fought well. Ray simply wasn't the best of scrappers. But that wasn't what worried Cyber. It was what else he had seen.

It was time to pay a visit to Commander X.

"Commander? A word with you, if I may." X turned to see the speaker.

"Certainly, trainee," and he recognized him, "ah, Cyber, isn't it?" 

"Yes, sir," and he grinned impudently at X, "and I'm working on that 'trainee' bit. It'll change soon, especially since you've placed me in a Unit."

X almost sighed. It looked like Yadob had been right: this fellow had a problem with "respecting authority." It didn't seem to be in his lexicon. "What is it?" he asked instead. Cyber appeared to hesitate before plunging in.

"It's about some of my fellow teammates." he received an understanding nod. "I was watching them during the latest training exercise, and some of my impressions are...upsetting, to say the least. Perhaps you've heard some of them, like the fact that Riptide is a hunter. She's been eating holo-parts again." Another nod. "Well, this one might surprise you: Gambit is an assassin." X reacted to that.

"WHAT?!!!" 

"You didn't see him in that program. He hid in an alley and drew people in for the kill. Once they were close enough..." he trailed off and drew his thumb across his throat in the age-old gesture of death. "They died without being able to get a scream off. No one even knew he was there. Gambit is a killer, plain and simple."

X was concerned. "You're sure?" Now it was Cyber's turn to nod. "Then something will have to be done. Thank you for your warning. Dismissed." With a twisted smile at the order, Cyber turned and left. X called up Zero. "Zero, we have some work to do."

  
  


"Background checks? Why?" Zero asked.

"Because some of the latest group are more than a bit suspicious. It would be smart to check them out. Remember, we don't know that this isn't a Maverick trick." X replied.

Zero sighed. "All right, we'll do it. Who first?"

X shrugged. "May as well start at the top of the list. Armored Armadillo."

It turned out to be X that drew that duty. The closest contact for Army was someone by the name of Aaron Aardvark, a Biology professor at the University of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. The university was a recent development, having just been completed some twelve years ago. Walking into the registrar's office, he was directed to one of the labs in a nearby building. "He should have just finished a class, and he'll still be there," the receptionist said.

The door to the lab was open. Inside stood someone in a white lab coat, hunched over a microscope. "Professor Aardvark?" X called cautiously. The figure straightened and turned.

"Yes?" X was slightly taken aback. The speaker was undeniably a reploid, modeled after -what else- an aardvark. Otherwise, he was the epitome of the college professor: neat appearance, knowing look, and a kind face. He even sported glasses, seated halfway down his nose.

"Well, that answers my first question," X muttered. In this case, the odd last name was nothing more than an extension of the first; reploids rarely took last names in any case. Still, there was more to his visit than that... "Professor? Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. And please, Commander X, call me Aaron." He smiled. "Oh yes, I know who you are; it would be foolish of me not to know the predecessor of my entire race, now, wouldn't it?"

X nodded dazedly, trying to get back on track. "I...suppose so. Well, ah, Aaron, I'm trying to do background checks on the latest group of Maverick Hunters. You're listed as the closest contact and creator of one Armored Armadillo. Is that true?" The professor nodded. "What can you tell me about him?"

"Well," mused Aaron, "it depends on what you want to know. For basic background, I created the second Armored Armadillo because I had often thought that there were aspects of the original's construction which could be improved. So after I finished the work for my doctorate, that's what I did, and Armored is the result."

"How did he act?"

"Shy, but friendly. He's always been trustworthy, and he's totally loyal to his friends. On the downside, he had always become violent when he's angry," Aaron replied.

X was about to continue when a knock at the doorframe interrupted them. A young man in dark glasses stood there, hesitating to come in. "Yes, Mr. Keavin, what is it? Can I help you?" Aaron inquired. The man's face lit up.

"Yes, Professor, I was hoping you could clarify a point from today's lecture," he said softly. Aaron and he conferred for a few short minutes, and then, thanking the professor for his time, the student took his leave. Professor Aardvark smiled.

"Batliaken Keavin is one of my best students," he explained to X. "It's nice to see a reploid after my own heart; not many choose to go into advanced learning." X blinked.

"That guy was a reploid?"

"Yes. He pretends to be human, but he won't lie when asked if he is one. In any case, Commander, even if I haven't answered all of your questions, it may be best if our interview ended now. Some things are confidential, and I believe they should stay that way." With that, Professor Aardvark extended his hand to X. Shaking it, X thanked him.

"Well, you're right, Aaron. You've been a great help. I've got to be off now." X turned, took a few steps, and with a final wave, warped back to MHHQ.

Zero had selected Riptide Raptor as his "suspicious person of the day" to investigate. Her close contact was some guy who lived in California named Dr. Joel Koole, whose parents obviously had had a sense of humor. However, upon meeting him, Zero decided that the name couldn't bother the man; he looked like he was living up to it.

After the necessary introductions and primary explanations were made, the pair quickly got down to business. Dr. Koole readily explained his connection to Riptide Raptor.

"You see, I built her, and four others that were also modeled after dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the others were destroyed in a Maverick attack. That event changed Riptide forever. Before, she was the gentlest of them all, but now, she lives for the killing of mavericks, her revenge. Sometimes, she becomes almost blinded by it, and she cares for no one...except perhaps me."

Zero frowned. "So it would be highly unlikely that she's involved with any Maverick activities. However oddly she acts, it appears that Riptide is totally on the up-and-up."

"It is next to impossible that Riptide is working with the Mavericks," Dr. Koole agreed, "but I think it would be fair to warn you that she is not the most trustworthy of teammates. She would let a fellow Hunter die if it meant she could kill a Maverick instead of saving him, and would probably kill him herself if a Maverick was using him as a shield...if there was no other way. And if she had proof that someone was a Maverick or was working for them, she'd have no qualms in disposing of them, either."

Zero suppressed a shudder. It was a good thing that Riptide Raptor hadn't come along until after the last Sigma attack...or he would have had to deal with her, too, not just his fellow Hunters. Knowing her obsession with hunting, he may well have ended up dead.

"Thanks for the warning," he finally replied. "It could just mean the difference between someone living...or dying."

Zero could not have known how prophetic his words were...or how soon they would be proved correct.

When the pair of commanders shared what they had gathered on the group of new Hunters, they got Dr. Cain and Hazil to sit in on the conference. As the four most senior residents of MHHQ, they had the most experience with Maverick-style plots and felt they could pick out any Maverick-influenced anomalies.

It was Cain who first noticed an anomaly - but it wasn't Maverick, at least not at first glance. "You don't have any information on Gambit."

"Too interested in getting done, I guess," Hazil grumped as he accessed the file on the Hunter in question. His eyebrows rose. "I guess not. Cain, this guy doesn't have any contacts - no friends, no creator, not even a company name for an assembly line."

X frowned. "Cyber said he thought Gambit was an assassin..." he drifted off in thought. "That's actually what got this whole rigmarole started. But if we can't ask someone about him, what can we do?"

"Ask him," Zero replied. "He might just give something away."

"Good idea," X said. "Cain, Hazil, care to stay?" Cain shook his head.

"No, I have other work to do. Besides, he'll be more on his guard if there are more people in the room, especially if they're the administrator of the entire headquarters and the head doctor. Commanders should be enough." Hazil agreed, and the pair left.

The newest members of the 21st Unit were hanging out. There was no better way to describe it. Ray and Pete were involved in the age-old strategy game of chess, Louie and Army were debating some obscure point for an unknown reason, and the others -Cyber, Riptide, and Gambit- were watching and listening to the others. Then Gambit received a comm signal.

"Gambit here. Go ahead," he stated flatly. His eyes widened ever so slightly at the response.

"This is Commander X. Commander Zero and I would like to speak to you in my office, as soon as is conceivably possible."

"I'll...I'll be right there, Commander." Gambit broke the connection, and, nodding to the others in a sort of apology for interrupting them, left.

  
  


Riptide frowned under her favored concealing cloak and rags. That scent that Gambit had exuded, just for a second...it couldn't have been fear, could it? She followed him.

Quietly moving down the hall behind him, she realized that it was. But...not for himself. He was worried, upset, determined...and there was a trace of hopeless anger under it all. An interesting scent-combination.

Just as Gambit reached the door, she smelled a new scent. Coldness. A hardening to any and all feeling. He went inside, and she waited, unsure of what she was waiting for, only knowing that she did not trust someone who smelled so much like the blood of innocents.

Gambit cursed his bad luck. Pitiless as he was, unable to feel regret, this was one job he had not wanted to do, had not chosen. Now the commanders had called him, probably to ask questions he did not want to answer. And then he'd have to do the job he was being forced to do. If he failed...

Then the one person who he cared about would die. Cipher. So helpless, so peaceful. Everything that he, Gambit, was not. He silently cursed again as he walked through the door, preparing himself for what must come.

"Ah, Gambit. We were waiting for you," X said with a smile.

Of course you were, Commander. You called, after all, Gambit thought scornfully. "I'm here now, sir. What is the problem?" His hand slid painstakingly slowly to his saber. One chance.

"Just a few questions," Zero replied. "We seem to be lacking information about you."

Gambit made his move. "And you're not likely to get more," he hissed, and drew his saber like a flash of dark lightning. Locking it on, he stabbed X, yanked the blade clear, and threw it at Zero. Zero had no time to react, and fell down next to where X had collapsed. The assassin had struck. His mission was accomplished.

Just then the door was ripped open, and Riptide Raptor entered like a bolt out of the blue. She had smelled the blood and bet that the worst had happened. Now, she was intent on killing the killer. Gambit narrowly dodged her first leap, and ran out the door, hoping for escape...from her, from this base, from what he had had to do, but had not wanted to do.

It was not to be. Cyber had followed minutes after Riptide had left the commons room, and Gambit nearly ran slap into him. He gave chase, while others ran to the office to see what damage had been done.

Gambit was nearly away, Cyber knew. There was one way, not his favorite thing to do, but the only way to stop him. Desperately, Cyber activated his Warp Fuse ability, to warp to, surround, and mesh with another individual, overriding their control. Gambit ground to a halt. Cyber warned away the others.

"Don't! I have him, fused with me," he stated, his voice sounding like a strange mix of himself and Gambit. "Just a minute, and I'll phase out and security can have him." Once enough people were there, he did just that, giving himself a shake. "I hate doing that," he whispered, "but it was the only way."

"No worries, Cyber," Ray said. "You did what had to be done, and for better news, the Commanders are still alive. Pete -he's got reploid first aid skills, did you know?- and Hazil are taking care of them. It's going to be a near thing, though."

Louie nodded. "And it's a good thing that Army came along with us to investigate. Riptide was all for shredding Gambit, and she had to be restrained. There was murder in her eyes, but not for innocents. For him." And what will happen now, I wonder? Will everything fall apart like a tower made of jack-straws? he thought glumly. He blinked. Cyber was slowly walking away. "Cyber? Where are you going? Security's going to want to talk to you, you know, since you were involved."

"I know, Louie, and I'm open to questioning at any time," Cyber replied. "I'm just going back to barracks. I have some things that I need to think about."

"Don't feel guilty, Cyber. The bloke had it coming to him," Ray stated.

"Maybe," Cyber murmured. But you don't know the half of it.

Two days passed. Commanders X and Zero were back on their feet, albeit a bit weak and not ready for full duty yet. The decision on what to do about the assassin -not called Gambit anymore, not a new Maverick Hunter, the assassin- had been made. He was to be terminated.

It had to be done. Louie shook his head. The reactions around base were varied. Most thought, like Ray, that he had it coming to him. Riptide was all for him dying a gruesome death ...at her claws. And Cyber...

He wasn't taking it well. He was avoiding them, and Louie had the feeling that he would continue to hide away and brood until Gambit was dead, and there was nothing else to it. Certainly he wouldn't be discussing it like the rest of the base. He probably wouldn't even come out of his barracks room.

How wrong he was, and yet, so right. Cyber was, at that very moment, brooding. Scenes from Gambit's past roiled in his head, and he knew that Gambit, while still an assassin, still the one who almost killed X and Zero, had not wanted to do that particular job. He had been forced to do it.

Forced. An image of another reploid permeated the thoughts of the assassin. Young, innocent, frightened...and currently a captive of a group of Mavericks who called themselves the Renegades. The only person in the world that Gambit cared about. Cipher. The memory of his feelings, Gambit's feelings, was so clear. He was afraid, angry, and desperate; he had been told that if he failed to kill the two Commanders, Cipher would die. The Renegades had wrought well. It seemed that Gambit would die, knowing that the only one he cared for would also die due to his failure.

No. This will not do, Cyber thought. But what can be done? There's no way that the sentence can be overturned. Not this late. And I have no proof but my own -and his- memories. He looked at the clock. Almost midnight. Shift change will be soon.

Suddenly, he stood up and walked out of the room. He had made his decision.

Cain's room comm bleeped. Blinking blearily, he struggled to wake himself up. "Yes? What is it? Who is it?" he grumbled.

"Sir, it's security. I'm not really sure how, but the prisoner, the one that tried to kill the Commanders...he's escaped!" the voice reported.

"WHAT?? ESCAPED?? When? How? Surely the guards would have done something!"

"We're not sure how, sir. But he vanished, and they noticed just when the new shift came on. However he did it, he timed it perfectly. He's gone, and no way to track him. Security cameras don't show anything unusual."

MHHQ turned into a midnight uproar. Gone...with perfect timing. But how?

On the second floor in a nearly empty room, the window was hanging open. Cyber stood by it, letting the night breeze and moonlight play across his face. He smiled, listening to the sounds of frantic security. He knew how.

But he'd never tell them.


	6. A Tower of Jack Straws

Chapter Five: A Tower of Jack Straws

  
  


"I don't believe it!"

Riptide's voice tore through the morning air. Upon finding out the events of the night before, she had become furious. She had been almost appeased when she had discovered that Gambit was to be terminated, but this was too much. Somehow, and with no explanation, he had escaped, got away scot-free. 

"C'mon, Riptide. It happens. There's not a security system in the world that someone can't get by. I'd say we're lucky that he didn't try anything else," Pete said soothingly.

"Lucky nothing! This just proves it: the Hunters are the most mindless, naive, book-bound, and softest 'military organization' in existence! If you had just let me dispose of him in the first place, they would never have had this problem! Idiots!" Riptide ranted.

Louie flinched. "Be reasonable, Riptide...they did everything they could. He's gone now...can't you just let well enough alone?"

"Never," she snarled. "Since these Hunters are too weak-spined to cope with killers, I'm going to do it myself. YOU can deal with the Mavericks your way. Because I QUIT!!"

She stormed out of the room and down the hall, knocking aside anyone who got in her way. Idiots! There's only one way to deal with killers. Death! She heard a sound next to her as she strode out the door. Spinning, she saw it was none other that Cyber.

"So you're really leaving?" he inquired mildly.

"These guys can't cope," she sneered. "Of course I'm leaving."

Cyber shook his head. "Hate to lose a fighter like you..." Riptide snorted. He blinked. "Really. And Riptide, I know you're upset over what happened, but there's nothing they could have done." She moved restlessly. "No, hear me out. The Hunters have a code, and they uphold it at all times. They can't just kill someone out of hand, not another Hunter like Gambit was. The trial was necessary...and the subsequent vote. Not everyone does things the way you do, and -sorry if this insults you- you've got to realize that your way is not always the best way. You've got to have the whole case to be justified in making that big a decision."

She frowned. Did she smell amusement on him? "What's so funny?" she demanded suspiciously. He shook his head.

"An inside joke," he replied softly. "Please, Riptide. Think about what I said. And... we'll miss you. I hope to see you again, on friendly terms."

Riptide could think of no reply, so she simply nodded and walked away. She did not see Cyber shake his head once more, half regretful, half understanding as she never would. Someday, Riptide, maybe I'll be able to tell you the joke...but for now, it'll have to stay with everything else buried inside. Knowledge hurts sometimes.

"CYBER!!" bellowed Louie. "C'mon back inside before you rust standing there!" Sighing, Cyber took one last look at the retreating figure in the distance, and turned away. Somehow, he had the feeling that the next time he saw Riptide, she'd be very different.

Inside once more, Cyber made a beeline for his room. Once there, he noted the green message light flashing at the computer. "You've got mail," he softly quoted to himself. From Dawn, maybe? He smiled as the image of his creator and keeper of his heart shimmered in his mind. Keying his password, he checked almost absentmindedly, an attitude that vanished moments later. Quickly affirming that he was alone, he opened the link and read the message.

Cyber,

  
  


Didn't want to leave you hanging after how you helped me out. Thanks to you, both Cipher and I are safe now. They're not getting their hands on him again.

Speaking of which, because of my unwanted employment, I know a lot more about the Renegades, as they call themselves, than you do. I realize that the Hunters would benefit from this information, but as you know, I'm not a welcome figure at this time.

Perhaps you can pass it on for me.

I hope that someday the Hunters can let what I've done go. I do not want to have to fight them...but I will if pressed. Farewell to you...and use the information I have attached.

  
  


Gambit

  
  


The information he had attached was miniature bios on the five Renegades and the powers that Gambit had known or guessed that they possessed, as well as their extra weapons and forces. The only thing that was an unknown was the location of their main base of operations. They hadn't trusted him quite that much even with a hostage.

Saving the information to disk, Cyber left the room quickly. The Commanders needed this as soon as possible.

  
  


"How's he taking our companion's precipitous departure?" Ray inquired.

"Cold, quiet, and sardonic. What do you expect from Cyber? Tears and fits of rage?"

"Too right. Our Cyber is not one for emotions, eh, Louie?"

"I think that we should stop talking about him, as he's coming now. But I disagree. He's got to have emotions like everyone else...he just doesn't show them. Hey Cyber! Where's the fire?' Louie called.

Cyber grinned. "No real fire, except for the one I think I'm about to start myself. Have you seen the Commanders? Or Dr. Cain? I've got something for them."

Army stirred. 'I think they're up in Cain's office, doin' something or other," he yawned.

"Then I'm off again, I guess. Listen, I'll catch you guys later, all right? I mean, I don't want you to get the impression that I'm ignoring you or anything, but duty calls first. In this case, duty is to disturb the big dogs up there...though if what they're doing is important, you'll have to pick up the pieces!" With that, he was off.

Louie shivered uneasily. Pick up the pieces...why is it that all these innocent phrases give me such a bad feeling? he wondered. It was probably nothing. Besides, he was missing out on the joke-fest that his friends had started. Time to be dreary and fatalistic later.

"That's all we know about their position, Cain," Zero stated. "There are two of them, positioned near Fort Tejon, California, which is located on the San Andreas Fault. It's a pretty dangerous situation; the fault lines around Fort Tejon are all slow creepers, and the one directly under it is due for a major earthquake to relieve stress. If a maverick were to set off a large explosion in that region, it would set off quakes in all of the intersecting fault lines - the San Andreas, the Carrizo Plain, the White Wolf, and the Garlock faults - which would devastate California and kill thousands. It would probably rate a 10 on the Richter scale, so it's absolutely necessary for someone to go, and fast...it's a pretty delicate situation. Still, it shouldn't be too much of a problem - I think a couple of specialists, working together, could handle it easily."

Cain nodded. "Any preference, Zero? Want to do it yourself?"

X coughed. "There aren't that many specialists, people who could take care of a Maverick General on their own, Cain. Just myself, Zero, Bastion, and Wycost. I guess it's just a matter of picking a pair that are willing to go. So, who do we send?"

"Send a Unit," a voice said from the doorway. Turning, they saw Cyber, looking at them intensely, seriously.

"You again?" queried X. "What is it this time?" 

"And why bother with a Unit? It's not necessary," Zero added.

"With due respect, sirs, you're sending a couple of people up against at least two Mavericks with unknown powers. You're not even certain who these guys are! Plus, the situation's so volatile, you can't be sure that there won't be a need to send extra help!" exclaimed Cyber. "And before you get too skeptical, I came here to give you this." He handed X a disk. "It has the information you'll need about those Mavericks, who by the way call themselves the Renegades."

"And where did you get this?" Cain said, frowning.

"A friend of mine who had an unfortunate encounter with them." Cyber replied evasively.

"Well, thanks for the straight answer," Zero said sarcastically. "Since you're so worried," he continued as he read the contents of the disk, now shown on the screen in front of him, "your Unit, the 21st, will be the one to go. Should be more than enough...and now we know that the two you'll be facing are Magnitude Minotaur and Siren Sphinx. Go on, now. It'll be official before you rejoin your friends."

Cyber nodded grimly, and, neglecting to salute purposely, turned and walked away. 

Twelve minutes later, Bastion's Unit arrived at the San Andreas Fault. "Spread out, but stay alert," Bastion ordered. "Horace, what's the reading for the Mavericks?"

"Well, sir...they're...not showing up. It's possible that in their uninfected state they would not register on our equipment. But if I reformat it to look for reploids of the provided statistics, we should be able to find them."

"Then do it," Wycost cut in, "we don't have forever to wait for ya." He shifted slightly. Waiting, and worse, staying in one general area when there were mavericks around somewhere, was not his thing. If the sensors had not already picked the Mavs up, they should have just started looking for them the good old-fashioned way.

"I've got them now, Bastion, sir. They're approximately 200 meters away, together," the unit member stated.

"Alright, let's move it. If we do this right, we should be done in time to get back to base for lunch." Bastion said calmly.

The resistance they met along the way was negligible. They can't be that uninformed of our presence, Wycost thought suspiciously. We were as obvious as the sun, warping in. So why so little fight when there are two Generals present? "Commander," Wycost alerted Bastion, "we could be walking straight into a trap. This is too easy."

"I hear ya, Wycost. The thought had crossed my mind, too. Everybody, keep your eyes open. And be ready for anything." 

It was odd, thought Ray, that this mission, his first with his Unit, wasn't making him nervous as even his days on the watch had made him when something was up. In fact, he dreamily mused, he felt remarkably calm...it was even sort of relaxing.

RELAXING? He straightened and shook his head. I'm not paying nearly enough attention to my surroundings... he looked around. And neither are the others...it's like the quiet is zombifying us or something... Then he heard the sound. Soothing, hardly even audible...and totally unnatural. Siren Sphinx! "Commander!" he cried out, "WAKE UP!! Plug your ears! We're in sonics range for that Mav witch to project! She's..."

BLAM! An explosion went off somewhere to Bastion's right, and suddenly the air was filled with plasma fire. It had been a trap, all right; and they had been coaxed right into it by Siren Sphinx. Minor mavericks erupted from everywhere, some blasting away with Busters and then diving behind cover, and some attacking more directly, charging with seemingly reckless abandon. Seemingly only: beam sabers, ice- and flame- throwers, grenades, and other weapons of destruction were much in evidence.

The 21st, alerted by Ray's shattering cry, were quickly on their guard. Training took over and they, too, dove behind cover to return fire. Those with sabers used the cover fire provided by their teammates to launch a direct attack. Bastion and Wycost concentrated on punching through the maverick lines to get to the Generals, waiting a safe distance away. It was tough work, and several times they were forced to fall back. Cursing, Bastion ducked behind a boulder to avoid a ice-thrower spurt which threatened to freeze him where he stood. Nearby, Wycost plucked a grenade out of the air and quickly tossed it back at the one who threw it. Finally, Bastion selected ten of his unit to help them, and charged.

It was incredible, Ray thought as he continued popping buster shots and cringing away from the return fire, rather like the "Charge of the Light Brigade." They were hopelessly outnumbered, the mavericks had far more firepower - and where did they get all of that equipment? - but Wycost charged on, having taken the lead from Bastion, who was hot on his heels, the pair blasting and slicing everything that came into their path, skilled and deadly. Ray shook himself once more out of his introspection. There was work to do, and now he saw that the Commander and his second were soon going to be in trouble: their ten were mostly down, unable to match their leaders in the necessary finesse.

"Blimey! They're going to need help!" he cried, losing the sophisticated edge in his British accent to fall to the middle class. "Cyber, any ideas? You get them most often in the simulations!"

"As a matter of fact, I happen to have one. LOUIE, PETE, ARMY! OVER HERE, ON THE DOUBLE!!" he summoned his friends to him. "We're going after them. Remember, same as the sims: Pete, far-shoot for Louie and the rest of us, Army, power through, Ray, behind him and protect his sides. Louie and I'll deal with anything that gets too close otherwise. Ready? Let's do it!" Cyber flicked his saber on and turned a small, non-regulation dial. Instantly the blade turned into his favorite mace. Swinging it to get some momentum, they blitzed after Bastion and Wycost.

For Wycost, this was child's play. The mavericks had firepower, they had numbers, but he had his skill, his buster, and his quest for revenge. He needed nothing else. It hardly took him a minute to demolish the wall of mavericks between him and his goal, and then they were past the main force and the next thing they knew, they were confronting the leaders of the motley band of attackers.

"Give up, Mavericks," Bastion cried, noticing his newest unit members coming up a bit to his left, "there are only two of you versus the seven of us, and the rest of your forces are going down. We've got you!" One of the Maverick Generals laughed.

Louie shuddered. He recognized that Maverick: it was the same one who had destroyed his town by earthquake, with only the most minor of fault lines available, who he now knew to be Magnitude Minotaur. The destruction if he was allowed to exert that power here would be far worse. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

Magnitude spoke. "Correction, Hunter Commander. There are FIVE of us. Look up!"

Bastion looked. Sure enough, now wheeling in the sky were Razor Griffon, Polarized Phoenix, and Thunderbolt Roc. Glancing back, he also noticed that there was a fresh outpouring of maverick grunts that had also been hiding, waiting for the signal. That was all he had time for before the fresh forces attacked.

It had been a trap all along, Wycost realized, but there was no time to bemoan the mistake. He rushed at the ground-bound Generals, holding back his shot until it was fully charged. Then he let loose, hitting Siren dead in the chest and sending her stumbling back. She retaliated with a blast of sound waves that knocked him flat. Leaping up, he transferred his attention to Magnitude, who had produced a nasty-looking, two-handed beam axe. A couple of deft swings scattered Louie, Pete and Ray, forcing them to scramble away from the deadly blade.

Meanwhile, Bastion had spread his Powerstorm wings and took to the air. He soon encountered Razor, and the two began a colossal air battle. "You can't fight a bird in flight, Hunter!" Razor crowed.

"Watch me!" Bastion retorted, and Razor had to swerve crazily in the air to avoid being spitted on his opponent's saber. He fired a round of his trademark blades in retort. Bastion winced as one sliced through his armor at the shoulder. "Oww..." he muttered.

Some small distance away, Thunderbolt Roc was playing cat-and-mouse with the Hunters below. ZAP! A small bolt of electricity grounded half a meter away from one of them. ZAP! Centimeters away. BLAM! A powerful direct hit. The Hunter dropped, disabled but not destroyed. Only a barrage of plasma forced him to abandon his strike for the kill.

And Polarized Phoenix was having the time of her life. Her utilization of magnetic fields repelled plasma shots back into the audacious ones who fired them, flung the explosive Ray tossed far away to detonate harmlessly, and crumpled non-essential parts of Hunters, disabling busters and disrupting sabers. It was near-useless to attack her, but they did anyway so she couldn't practice so freely.

Things were looking bad for the 21st. Having held them both off for some minutes, Wycost was beginning to get the worst of Magnitude Minotaur and Siren Sphinx, who were having no problems attacking in tandem. Knocked back by another sonic attack from Siren, Wycost could only watch as Magnitude's beam axe came down-

Only to be stopped by a bright green beam saber. Louie's face was a mask of determination as he strained against the stronger Maverick. The General gave a sudden, forceful push and Louie was on the ground. But he had bought Wycost valuable time and he let loose a charged shot right in Magnitude's face. Spinning around, he fired again at Siren, and spun back only to be stunned to see that Magnitude was already recovered. Seeing the problem from afar, Cyber triggered his Distortion Charge - for real, this time. But as an added benefit, he aimed to go through the minotaur maverick and cause damage to his semi-delicate circuits on the way. Roaring, Magnitude spun around and slashed down. Cyber took it on the arm, inadvertently crying out in pain as the blade bit deep into his forearm. His hand opened of its own accord and the handle to his beam weapon fell to the ground.

Ready once more, Wycost scooped the weapon up and ignited it, the saber automatically shooting out. Though he preferred busters to this any day, this was a close-in Maverick that the plasma shots obviously didn't faze. Together, he and Louie drove him back while Pete distracted Siren Sphinx. Huddling behind Army, who was destroying anything that got too close, Ray radioed MHHQ for help.

"This is Ray, from Unit 21 to MHHQ. Come in, MHHQ!!"

"We hear you, Ray. What's the situation?" the reply came calmly.

"Situation? We're getting slaughtered. Three extra Maverick Generals and a whole slew of normals showed up halfway in. We need help, and we need it now!" he called urgently over the sounds of battle.

"You've got it," was the response. "We're dispatching an extra unit now, the 00. Hang in there!"

"Right. Ray out." He ended the contact. "Well, that's just grand. I wonder how many of us will be left in ten minutes?"

He looked up. Bastion was becoming hard-pressed in the air, too. Razor Griffon had been joined by Thunderbolt Roc. He opened his short-range comm. "Bastion, don't ask questions or anything, but when I tell you, go for a mad dive. You've got to land. We can't help you up there, and we need to play the waiting game for ten minutes until help arrives." He pulled out a couple of components, assembling an explosive on the spot. Casting an anxious eye to the air, he called out again. "Ready? NOW!"

Bastion dove. Ray hurled a bomb that detonated right between the Generals, who had tried to follow him. They were forced to make a choice: abandon the strike or crash. They pulled up. Bastion landed safely, a little singed and cut up around the edges, but otherwise okay.

But Polarized Phoenix would not be taken in so easily. Having noted Ray speaking on his commlink for some time, she guessed that reinforcements were on the way. Oh well, she thought amusedly, it was just a test attack. Now we KNOW how they function. Excellent. She opened her own link to the others. "Blitzkrieg. Let's go."

The next thing the 21st knew, there were warp lights everywhere. A minute later, the mavericks were gone, the only traces being shreds of maverick grunt, shattered boulders, burning trees, and the injuries that none of the unit had completely escaped. When Zero's Unit warped in, there was nothing left but to aid Bastion's Unit to go back to MHHQ.

The concurrent debriefing was anticlimactic. Everyone had about the same story: it had been totally unexpected. They hadn't been prepared. And the ambush was definitely planned. There had been no losses, though well over half of the 21st had been severely injured, and everyone had been harmed somehow. The ones who had sustained the least damage were in fact Bastion, Wycost, (despite their intense involvement, as their respective levels of skill had kept them from serious harm) and surprisingly enough, Ray. He had spent most of the time sheltered behind Army at Cyber's recommendation, as a serious direct hit would cause his weapons-of-choice to explode.

"You were right, Cyber," X admitted. "We didn't know what we were sending you into. The mission's being billed a success, but what a cost." Pete came up next to them, working on first aid detail.

"You were hit too, Cyber. Let's take a look."

Calmly Cyber lifted his hand from where it rested almost casually on his other arm. X saw that his glove was covered with blood which was still oozing from the slash on his arm. "That must be pretty deep to still be bleeding. The nanobots usually take care of that sort of thing." he said. Cyber nodded, still betraying no pain.

Later, in Hazil's medical bay, Louie reflected that he had never seen Cyber show pain except for that one brief flash on the battlefield. Now Hazil was reconnecting various wires and repairing servos in his damaged arm while he looked on, patiently enduring Hazil's grumbles and retorting with a few choice remarks of his own. 

"There ya are, bud. Good as new. Now don't come in with one of those for the next two weeks, or so help me, I'll..." he trailed off.

"It's not a habit I plan to get into, you know." Cyber paused, and then grinned devilishly. "Thanks, Mac."

"Why I oughtta..." Hazil muttered crossly. "Check yer mail, by the way. A priority one came through for you. Though why I bother tell ya when you've got no respect..."

Cyber shrugged. "I do respect you, Hazil. I just don't show it that much." He accessed the laptop Hazil handed to him, noting that the heading of the letter was priority and official.

  
  


Dear Sir,

Regret to inform you that Ms. Dawn Moranis, for whom you are listed as next of kin, was killed by anti-reploid activists. We her acting firm assure you that the perpetrators have been apprehended and no further actions can be committed by that party. 

A copy of the will shall be transmitted to you at a later date. Should you wish any facet of said will to be explained to you, please do not hesitate to contact us by communication system or electronic mail.

We offer our sincere condolences in your time of grief.

  
  


A.H. Anderson & Sons Soliciting

  
  


Cyber looked up, face empty, eyes filled with sorrow and pain. Noooooo!! He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the world. Dawn! Not Dawn, anyone but Dawn! his mind pleaded. But there was no denying the words on the screen.

Louie was startled. Was this really Cyber? Cyber, who never showed the worse emotions, never was anything but optimistic, encouraging? He spoke hesitantly. "Cyber? Is anything wrong?"

In an instant, his face reverted to its normal expression. "Nothing, Louie. Thanks for the update, Hazil. Catch ya later, all." His words were perfectly normal, but to Louie's ear, they sounded hollow. Something had hit him, and hit him hard. Before Louie could press, though, Cyber was out the door and gone.

Louie's head spun as his own thoughts came back to him. A tower of jack straws, in precarious balance...straws are pulled out carefully, one after another, trying not to disturb the others in the stack...but there is a straw, a crucial straw on which everything rests. When that straw is pulled, the tower collapses... 


	7. Rock Bottom

Chapter Six: Rock Bottom

  
  


It was night.

The moon had risen though it had not yet reached its zenith; there was an excellent view of it from the top of MHHQ. The stars shone brightly, the wind whispered against the edges of the roof, gently flowing around the one person who stood there. Truly, a beautiful night.

He was not there to admire the view. 

The beauty escaped him. Too much had happened over the last few days for him to appreciate anything about this place as he had so many times before. No, there was one thing, one essential thing that he liked very much about the roof of MHHQ right now. There was no one else there. And it was a very long drop to the ground - a lethal drop. Anyone who fell off and couldn't slow their descent would die - human or reploid.

Standing at the edge, staring down towards the ground, Cyber wondered what it would be like to die.

"Hit me," Pete said. It sounded odd to the passer-by, but anyone who'd stop and look would have seen that he and Ray were playing blackjack. 

Ray dealt him a card. "Here. And I'll stay. Draw or stay, Pietro?" Pete winced.

"Please. The company that made me might have been set on Italian names, but I've always preferred 'Pete' to 'Pietro.' More German that way, I suppose, though most people can't understand why I'd be proud of my homeland."

"Maybe because your country tried to conquer Europe and slaughter minorities. It sticks out in most people's minds," Louie commented from the other side of the room.

"One man, one demented man who swayed so many people to his way of thinking," Pete sighed, "and now it seems the world can't forgive. Always the World Wars come to mind when Germans are mentioned! It was over a hundred and fifty years ago! We've done good things too." 

Ray grinned. "Of course. And we understand that, even if some don't." He paused, frowning, then slipped back to the grin. "So, draw or stay, Pete?" The game continued.

Louie lapsed back into silence. Was it really only a couple of weeks ago that he had joined the Hunters? So much had happened. He had lost his home, his old friends, and gained a whole new life, with new friends. Thinking of which... "Army, have you seen Cyber around lately?" he asked.

"Nope. Caught a glimpse of him yesterday evening, but not since. Strange, isn't it? He's usually around in our leisure time," Army replied.

"I'm worried about him," Louie said quietly. "He was keeping to himself a bit before, after the incident with Gambit, but ever since that Renegade attack in California, he's been totally avoiding us. No, wait..." a stray thought caught him, "he was fine after the attack. Until Hazil gave him the med bay's laptop so he could check his mail..." he drifted off, and Ray, now finished with the game, finished the thought.

"Something must have been sent to him that's set him like this." Louie nodded.

"I'd never seen Cyber show any emotion so dark until then. And then, it was the pain of someone who had just lost something precious. He was hit with something hard." He paused. "I felt the way he looked when I learned that my entire hometown was destroyed, along with everyone in it. Like I had just hit bottom, nowhere left to fall."

"That's bad, Louie," Pete said worriedly. "If our Cyber's been hit with something that bad, he needs friends right now. Let's go find him." They got up and left the room.

"But where would he be?" Ray wondered as they walked down the hall. "His room's empty, he's not in the mess or the rec if he wants to be alone, so what's left?" Someone coughed behind them. They froze, then turned around.

It was not Cyber as they had half expected. It was X. "Commander!" Pete said, startled.

X nodded in acknowledgment. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking," he explained. "If you're looking for a secluded place for someone to hide, though, I suggest the roof. Most people don't even realize you can get up there, though I've been there several times myself."

"Thanks, Commander," Louie said gratefully. "You've saved us a lot of time."

X shrugged and watched as they headed for the nearest access. Perhaps someday I'll even find out what I saved them time for, he mused. But they were gone now.

The roof. Louie took one look around as they came out the access door. X was right, this place IS secluded. There's no one here... and then he saw Cyber.

His helmet was off, irrelevant as that seemed. But it was the first time he'd ever seen Cyber without his full armor. Moving slightly to one side, Louie watched Cyber's face. Silver eyes stared unseeing at the moon, wisps of chin-length silver hair blew around his face, unnoticed. And the expression could only be described as desolation. Even as Louie considered this, he saw a tear glisten in the corner of Cyber's eye before making a solitary trail down his cheek, and Cyber looked down.

"No," Louie whispered in horror. The others turned to him.

"What?" Ray asked, equally quietly.

"Cyber's...Cyber's going to kill himself. He's going to jump!" Louie cried even as Cyber leaned forward once more. "Cyber! STOP!!!" It's too late, he thought, too late...

It wasn't. Before Cyber could complete the move that would have sent him to his death, Army was there. Grasping him firmly, he pulled their friend away from the edge and back to the group. Cyber fought at first, with the strength of one crazed. But Army held on. "No." he told him firmly. "You're staying with us. Now is not your time." And with that, the fight went out of him.

"I guess...you're right," he said softly. "But why?" So saying, Cyber, who never showed the darker emotions, broke down in bitter tears. Looking over his head at Army, Ray jerked a thumb towards the access door.

"Our room, I think. Let's go." And they went.

  
  


Back in the room that Ray shared with Army, Pete, and Louie, the group settled down and waited for Cyber to calm down enough to speak. Eventually, he did, drawing uneven breaths, but no longer shaking with grief. "Cyber, what happened?" Louie inquired gently.

"Dawn's dead," he said raggedly. "The mail I got...that's what it was. Her lawyers. They said she was killed by anti-reploid activists."

"Dawn was a friend of yours." Louie said. It wasn't a question.

Cyber shook his head. "She was much more than a friend. She was my creator, my teacher, and...and my love," he whispered the last part. "We knew people didn't approve, but we didn't know it was that much...we didn't care." Tears slid down his cheeks. "She told me to go into the Hunters, make something of myself - help others, protect others as I protected her. She said she'd still be there when I came home, that no mavericks would be coming after her. I promised to visit her in two weeks' time." He paused. "I was supposed to go home tomorrow, to tell her how things were going, to say hello. Now I'll be going to say goodbye."

Louie couldn't say anything. There was nothing to say. So he simply reached out and gripped his arm, the only comfort he could offer his presence.

"So, Phoenix, what do we do now?" Razor inquired. "So far, things have rather flopped, haven't they?"

She turned to face Razor. "Have they?" she asked with a sly smile. "I wasn't aware that they had." Razor glanced at the other three Renegades. They looked as confused as he did.

"We didn't kill the Commanders of the Maverick Hunters, we didn't destroy that Unit that was sent to stop us at Fort Tejon, we haven't even continued our blitzkrieg attacks lately! So how have things not flopped?" Siren supported Razor.

"My dear Siren, you are missing what has been accomplished, what we set out to do. Perhaps you never realized it, but our mission has never been to destroy as is with the Mavericks. When we planned, I set the goal of shaking faith in the Maverick Hunters. They believed that they could handle anything, before we came along. But we probed in their weak points: their response time, their trust in each other, and their belief that X and Zero can handle anything. And there's not much they can do to remedy the situation, believe me. As far as I'm concerned, we succeeded - perhaps not as well as we'd have liked to, but succeeded nonetheless. I'm happy with that."

"Quite the speech, Phoenix," Razor replied, "but where does it leave us?"

She smiled. "Waiting. Watching. And most of all, planning. We will not be dormant for too long, Razor. Trust me on that."

"I do, Phoenix," Razor hastily assured her. "I do."

"Excellent. Then let me tell you something: I do not plan to be a minor threat forever. I will not take back seat to the Mavericks. When they pick up again - that's when my real plans will be set in motion." She paused. "And the Hunters will have much more than a shaken faith to worry about."

"But the Mavericks won't be doing too much for months, at least," Magnitude felt obliged to point out.

"It will probably be more than a year before I make the first move in our new game," Phoenix replied. "And what a deadly game it will be."

Morning found the newest members of the 21st Unit standing outside of MHHQ silently, waiting for Cyber to speak. He would soon, they knew, he would say something before he left. And yet, it came as a surprise when he finally did speak.

"A favor, my friends?" he requested. 

"Ask away, Cyber." Pete replied reassuringly. What could it be? he wondered.

"Would you...come with me?" he looked up with a faint, hesitant smile on his face - the first for days. "I don't know if I can do this alone."

"We're with you, Cyber," Louie assured him.

"Far be it from us to desert a friend in need," added Ray.

"Whatever you need," contributed Army. Cyber started, and a look of sadness crossed his face.

"Dawn..." his voice cracked, and he started again. "Dawn said the same thing, once. She wrote often during my wanderings, spending time composing works of poetry, prose, and genius -though the latter was mostly scientific." He rummaged in a small compartment in his arm. "She wrote this for me, when I left to enter the Hunters, unsure of what else I should do." He withdrew a piece of paper on which a simple poem was inscribed.

  
  


Wherever you go, be it near or far,

Never forget, someone cares who you are.

Someone is ready to be there for you

A rock to lean on, a shoulder, too.

Beside you, behind you, whatever you need

Someone who will follow when you want to lead

A friend, someone who is there to Be

Through it all, just remember, that someone is me.

  
  


"A worthy friend," Pete said huskily, fighting back a lump in his own throat.

Cyber nodded. "We should go now," he said. "We only have the one day's leave, and it shouldn't be wasted." Five beams of light shot into the air.

  
  


The official funeral was rough on the five friends. Dawn's family was there, a group of people who were proud of their daughter, sister, cousin, niece, grandchild, even if they weren't as pleased with the path she had chosen. They did not make the reploids feel welcome, as it was because of her involvement with reploids that had brought her death. But Dawn's friends were another story.

"Dawn was different," Kris, an old school friend of Dawn's, said. "Even when I knew her, it seemed obvious that she wasn't content with leaving things as they were, technologically. And even then, she was set on helping reploids in particular."

"She said that it was beyond unfair, the way you're treated," chipped in another friend. "And she didn't care who knew her opinions. She had tact, but she also had a mind of her own."

"She chose her road in life," Kris said softly. "Don't regret it. She never did."

Cyber simply nodded his thanks before excusing himself and his friends. There was still one more stop to make before the day was over.

"So this is the place, huh?" Louie inquired softly. Cyber nodded silently, staring at the house in front of them. It didn't appear to be large from the front, but he knew that there was another floor beneath the first one. This was indeed the place. The place where Dawn lived, created him, and where he had lived until he went to the Hunters. The place where, two days ago, Dawn had died, murdered for her beliefs and her involvement with a reploid.

But he wasn't ready to go in. Fishing out his key to the house, he handed it to Ray. "You guys go on inside. I... I need to think a bit first." The others went inside. On the doorstep, Louie paused, and then came back. Together they stood and watched the sun setting. It wasn't until the moon began to rise that one of them spoke.

"Strange, isn't it..." Louie mused softly. "Humans claim that they have overcome such things as racism, petty hatred just because of a person's skin color or religion. But in truth, they're so far away."

Cyber sighed. "Racism has never gone away, Louie. It has only shifted targets. The results are still the same." Louie caught the undercurrent.

"She... she meant a lot to you, didn't she?"

"Dawn? Dawn was my inspiration. She was far more than just my creator or my friend, which her friends didn't mention. I loved her, heart and soul." He turned to look at Louie. "And she loved me just as much, maybe more. Not even her friends could understand that." He paused, considering. "'Meant a lot to me', Louie? More than you'd expect. She was everything to me. I just wish..." A tear slid down his cheek, followed by another. "I just wish that she knew that, that I had told her before she died. Now she's gone, and I never can."

"Cyber..." Louie hesitated. "I think she did know. The people you love - the ones you truly love - always do. And she's never going to be gone. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true - she'll live in your heart forever. And I think she couldn't ask for a better place."

"You really care." Looking around, Cyber noticed that the others had come back out.

"Of course I do, Cyber. You're my friend." he shook his head. "You had us all worried, you know. And I know that this goes deep, all the way to rock bottom and splits you in two. I've felt the same way, when I lost my everything. But I want you to promise something."

"Go ahead." Cyber said warily.

"Don't ever leave. We need you, Cyber - you're the only thing that keeps us together. None of us will ever really suit a particular Unit; even Bastion's won't be able to hold us forever. I can tell you that right now." Louie's prophetic feelings were kicking in once more. "But we can make it...together."

"He speaks for us all," Army rumbled gently. Pete and Ray nodded.

Cyber smiled. A real smile, this time, with a glint of his old personality in it. He nodded, too. "Together, then. And I want the same from all of you." They agreed.

"Together."

And a broken heart began to mend. Rock bottom fell away, the ground of shattered past swallowed by the skies of a promised future.


End file.
